Supporting foot



C- J. SYMONDS SUPPORTING FOOT May 3, 1960 Filed July 3, 1956 \NVENTOR:

Y we NN a mo T Y m S J L m VI B SUPPORTING FOOT Carl J. Symonds, Arlington, Mass., assignor to United- Carr Fastener Corporation, Boston, Mass, at corporation of Delaware Application July 3, 1956, Serial No. 595,627

4 Claims. (Cl. 248-24) This invention relates generally to supports and has particular reference to a support for use on the lower surface of an article such as a telephone, typewriter, table radio, or the like to prevent scratching or marring the surface on which the article rests.

In the manufacture of such articles, it is customary to provide resilient feet of rubber, plastic, or the like to serve as a shock absorber to prevent marring of table or desk tops, and to provide frictional engagement with the surface to prevent lateral sliding. Devices used heretofore for this purpose have had a number of disadvantages, in that they are too expensive, or do not provide sufiicient resistance to lateral sliding, or cannot be attached securely. Some devices also trap moisture, such as when water is spilled on a table top and can thereafter smear a film of moisture across the table top when the article is moved.

The object of this invention is to provide a support which overcomes the above disadvantages in that it is economical to manufacture, can be securely attached, and has a high degree of resistance to lateral sliding.

A further object of the invention is to provide a support for an article in which a relatively rigid retainer portion is provided with a resilient insert having portions projecting below the retainer to engage a surface on which the article rests.

Another object of the invention is to provide a support assembly as set out above which is so designed as to be incapable of trapping moisture on a surface on which it rests.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a specific embodiment thereof.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a support embodying the features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the support of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the support of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view in section taken on line 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a resilient insert used in the support;

Fig. 6 is a view in section of the support attached to the lower side of an article to be supported; and

Fig. 7 is a view in section of a modified form of a support embodying the features of the invention.

Referring to the drawing, there is illustrated a support 10 which is adapted for assembly onto the bottom of an article 12 to serve as a shock absorber and to prevent scratching or marring the surface 14 on which the article rests.

In the illustrated embodiment the support 10 is particularly adapted for use with a telephone since it is capahle of resisting the lateral forces resulting in dialing. The support 10 comprises generally a retainer 16 which may be formed of a relatively rigid material such as synthetic plastic of the cellulose acetate butyrate or the polyamide type, an insert 18 which may be formed of natural or synthetic rubber or plastic of greater resiliency nited States Patent "ice than the retainer 16, and an attaching portion 20, which, in the embodiment of Figs. 1 through 6 is disposed centrally of and is integral with the retainer 16.

The retainer 16 may conveniently be formed of a single piece of injection molded plastic and comprises a base 22 having a circular recess 24 disposed in the upper side thereof about the attaching portion, and a series of apertures 26 in the bottom of the recess opening to the lower side of the base.

The resilient insert 18 comprises a ring portion 28 for seating in the recess and a series of downwardly projecting members 30 on the ring portion for extending through the apertures and protruding a short distance from the lower side of the base.

The insert 18 is slightly larger in at least one lateral dimension than the corresponding dimension of the base so that there is sufiicient frictional engagement to prevent accidental disassembly of the parts during shipment and handling.

The attaching portion 20 in the embodiment of Figs. 1 through 6 comprises a series of integral shouldered legs 32 projecting upwardly about a central opening 34 which extends completely through the base and an attaching pin 36 disposed in the opening 34 and frictionally retained therein.

The support 10 is attached to the article 12 by inserting the legs 32 into a suitable aperture 38 and then driving the pin 36 into the aperture to spread the legs 32 inside the aperture and thereby lock the support in assembly with the article.

The design of the support provides a great amount of resiliency by reason of the depth or the resilient insert and the length of the downwardly projecting feet pertions 30 in relation to their cross sectional area, yet the portions 30 are provided with lateral support by the retainer 16 to prevent excessive sideways flexing which might tend to damage the resilient insert or which would permit excessive sideways motion of the article supported.

The provision of the individual spaced protruding feet also eliminates any possibility of moisture being trapped under the support.

Referring to Fig. 7 there is illustrated a support 40 which is similar to the support 10 previously described, except that the attaching means is provided by a. central aperture 42 to receive a screw 44.

Since certain other obvious modifications may be made in the device without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained herein be interpreted in an illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A resilient support of the class described for seating on a surface to support an object comprising a retainer formed of relatively rigid material and having a base with attaching means centrally disposed for attachment to an article to be supported, a continuous recess disposed in the upper surface of the base surrounding said means, a. series of apertures in the bottom of the recess opening to the bottom surface of the support, and a resilient member assembled therewith comprising a ring portion disposed in the recess and a series of individually spaced resilient feet extending from the ring portion and projecting through said apertures and protruding beyond the lowermost surface of the retainer for providing the only contacts with a support such as a table top.

2. A resilient support as set out in claim 1 in which said resilient member has a portion disposed in frictional engagement with said retainer to maintain the parts in assembly prior to attachment to an article to be supported.

3. A resilient support for telephones, typewriters and the like comprising a retainer formed of relatively rigid ber disposed 'in said recess and having a portion projecting downwardly through said aperture and projecting from the lower surfacefof the base to provide a resilient non-skid supporting foot extending beyond the lowermost surface of the retainer for providing the only contact with a support such as a table top.

4. A supporting device for attachment to the under surface of an article to be supported comprising a retainer portion having a base, attaching means as a part of said retainer portion permitting attachment to said article, a 5 2,545,514

recess in the upper face of the base, and apertures in the bottom of the recess opening to the lower face, and a resilient member disposed in the recess and having portions projecting through the apertures and protruding beyond the lower surface for the purpose defined.

References Citediin thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 878,043 C hrisman Feb. 4, 1908 943,342 Dubisee; Dec. 14, 1909 1,477,331 Ely Dec. 11, 1923 2,353,945 Storch July 18, 1944 2,453,991 Kaemmerling Nov. 16, 1948 Erb Mar. 20, 1951 

